Haunted hotel guide · Yosemite National Park, California
Is the Ahwahnee Haunted? Ghost Stories of Yosemite's Grand Hotel
Queen Elizabeth II, presidents and movie stars have stayed beneath the granite walls of the Ahwahnee, and its interiors helped inspire the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. The ghost stories here are quieter: a rocking chair, a whiff of perfume and a hostess who never really left.
The Ahwahnee stands at the foot of the Royal Arches in Yosemite Valley, a grand lodge of granite, timber and concrete stained to look like redwood. Designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood and opened in 1927, it is a National Historic Landmark and one of the great national park lodges. For three years, from 2016 to 2019, it was called the Majestic Yosemite Hotel during a trademark dispute, before its original name returned.
Its ghost stories are gentle ones. Guests and staff tell of a rocking chair linked to President John F. Kennedy, of Mary Curry Tresidder, the hostess who lived and died here, inviting guests to dance, and of a perfume that drifts through empty hallways. Add the fact that Stanley Kubrick used its interiors as a model for the Overlook Hotel, and the Ahwahnee has become one of California’s best-loved haunted hotels.
The Ahwahnee at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 1 Ahwahnee Drive, Yosemite National Park, CA 95389 (Yosemite Valley)
- Opened July 1927; National Register of Historic Places 1977; National Historic Landmark 1987
- Most haunted spots The mezzanine, the third floor, the sixth floor, the main staircase and hallways
- Best-known ghosts Mary Curry Tresidder; Donald Tresidder; two figures from the World War II Navy years; a rocking chair
- Booking the haunted room No specific room is singled out, and rooms cannot be booked by number. Book early: the hotel often sells out months ahead.
- Good to know Inside a national park, so you pay the park entrance fee and should check the National Park Service site for any seasonal entry rules. Pets are not allowed in the hotel.
The ghosts of the Ahwahnee
Mary Curry Tresidder
Mary Curry Tresidder was the daughter of David and Jennie Curry, founders of Camp Curry, and she and her husband Donald helped oversee the building of the Ahwahnee. She lived in a suite at the hotel and died there in 1970.
Travel and Leisure reported in 2025 that guests say they have met her: a woman who invites people to dance in the common rooms and, in some accounts, tucks guests into bed. It is the kind of ghost story that suits the hotel, more hostess than haunting.
Footsteps on the stairs
Donald Tresidder, who ran the Yosemite Park and Curry Company and later became president of Stanford University, died in 1948. Guests say his footsteps can be heard on the stairs at night, and one popular tale has him heading down toward the kitchens in search of a late snack.
Staff stories are more modest. Chelsie Layman, director of communications for Yosemite Hospitality, told Travel and Leisure that the most common report she hears is the smell of perfume in a hallway where nobody has been, and that she cannot personally vouch for anything supernatural.
The Kennedy rocking chair
President John F. Kennedy stayed at the Ahwahnee in 1962 and asked for a rocking chair, which he used for his back. The story says that a rocking chair has kept turning up ever since, appearing on the third floor and rocking gently by itself.
Some versions go further and say Kennedy himself is one of the hotel’s ghosts. There is nothing beyond legend to support that, but guests still look for the chair.
The war years and the sixth floor
In 1943 the U.S. Navy took over the hotel as a convalescent hospital for servicemen. Legends of America says two figures from that era are tied to the mezzanine level and the third floor.
On the sixth floor, an older Haunted Rooms story tells of guests returning to find clothes they left out neatly folded, as if a former manager were still keeping house. We have not found a primary source for it, so treat it as hotel folklore.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- The mezzanine: Linked to one of the two World War II era figures. It overlooks the lobby and is easy to visit.
- The third floor: Where the rocking chair is said to appear and the second wartime figure is reported.
- The sixth floor: Home of the clothes-folding story.
- The Great Lounge: Floor-to-ceiling windows, stained glass and two sandstone fireplaces. Mary Curry Tresidder is said to invite guests to dance in the common rooms.
History of The Ahwahnee
Stephen Mather, the first director of the National Park Service, wanted a luxury hotel in Yosemite to attract wealthy visitors who would support the parks. After an earlier attempt near Yosemite Falls failed for lack of money, the Yosemite Park and Curry Company took on the project. Construction began on August 1, 1926, on a meadow beneath the Royal Arches.
Architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood used about 5,000 tons of rough-cut granite, 1,000 tons of steel and 30,000 feet of timber. What looks like wood siding is actually concrete, poured into rough wooden forms and stained, to make the building fire resistant. It opened in July 1927 at a cost of $1,225,000, nearly double the estimate. Inside, Native American motifs run through the stained glass, beams and rugs.
The Navy took over the hotel as a convalescent hospital in 1943, and it returned to guests after the war. Over the decades it welcomed Queen Elizabeth II, Presidents Hoover, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Reagan and Obama, Walt Disney and Steve Jobs. Its Great Lounge and Dining Room helped inspire the Overlook Hotel sets in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980).
In 2016, after the park concessioner Delaware North lost its contract and claimed the trademarks, the hotel became the Majestic Yosemite Hotel. A settlement restored the Ahwahnee name in 2019. Today it has 97 hotel rooms and suites plus 24 cottages, and the formal Bracebridge Dinner, a holiday tradition since 1927, returned in 2024.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Book early. Rooms in Yosemite Valley sell out months ahead, especially in summer and around the holidays.
- Not staying? Book dinner in the Dining Room or take a drink in the bar, then walk the Great Lounge and the mezzanine.
- Look for the rocking chair on the third floor. It is the hotel’s best-known ghost story.
- Check park rules first. Yosemite charges an entrance fee and has used timed-entry reservations in busy seasons, so check the National Park Service site before you go.
- Rewatch The Shining. Then compare the Great Lounge with the Overlook’s Colorado Lounge.
- Want to investigate with a team? Haunted Rooms runs ghost hunts at historic venues across the US.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Historic National Hotel, Jamestown: a Gold Rush hotel on the way to Yosemite’s western gates
- Haunted places in Fresno: the nearest big city to the park’s southern entrance
- Haunted hotels in California: every haunted hotel in the state
- Haunted hotels in California
Stayed in one of these hotels? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from guests and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your stay. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Ahwahnee hotel haunted?
It has a gentle haunted reputation. Guests talk of Mary Curry Tresidder inviting them to dance, footsteps on the stairs, a rocking chair linked to John F. Kennedy and the smell of perfume in empty halls. These are stories, not documented events.
Was The Shining filmed at the Ahwahnee?
No. The film’s exteriors used Timberline Lodge in Oregon and the interiors were built in England, but Stanley Kubrick used the Ahwahnee’s interiors as a model for the Overlook Hotel’s sets.
Who died at the Ahwahnee?
Mary Curry Tresidder, who helped build and run the hotel, died in her suite there in 1970. Her husband Donald died in 1948, but not at the hotel.
Why was the Ahwahnee renamed the Majestic Yosemite Hotel?
Former concessioner Delaware North claimed the trademarks to the name after losing its contract. The hotel was called the Majestic Yosemite Hotel from 2016 until a settlement restored the Ahwahnee name in 2019.
Can you visit the Ahwahnee without staying?
Yes. The public rooms, bar and Dining Room are open to visitors, and many people come just to see the Great Lounge.
Are pets allowed at the Ahwahnee?
No. Pets are not allowed in the hotel.
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.
- Wikipedia: The Ahwahnee
- Travel and Leisure (via AOL): One of the most haunted places in California (2025)
- Legends of America: Sleeping With Ghosts in California
- Coast to Coast AM: Paranormal activity at Yosemite's Ahwahnee Hotel (2024)
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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